Thursday, November 25, 2010

Today I am thankful

Today I am thankful (not in any order):

1. For the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade2. For the pleasure of making pie 3. For a pumpkin that came out to be exactly the two cups the recipe required4. For Mom’s pumpkin pie recipe5. For new recipes googled—say, pecan pie with maple syrup6. For Northern-Southern détente—say pecan pie with maple syrup7. For my family8. For my dogs9. For the joy that my girl dog gets from an 18 inch stainless steel bowl (yip-yip-yip-yah!)10. For neighbors who tolerate her singing (yip-yip-yip-yah!)11. For the giant octopus toy that Stony loves, which has only now started to fray after a whole year12. For a washer and drier that work (we won’t discuss the dishwasher)13. Okay, we will— for the dishwasher’s eight years of service in this house14. For plentiful water – what a gift!15. For the whole idea of flannel16. For old friends17. For new friends 18. For my neighbors19. For the guy who reliably plows my driveway20. For heating with wood21. For my little gas stove in the living room that toasts my toes22. For the pleasure of weeding out items too big to wear any more23. For my job24. For my colleagues, every last one of them25. For certain specific people who have enriched my life this year and made me see the world through fresh eyes26. For the invention of DVR27. For all manner of things electronic: email, word processing, spreadsheets, digital cameras…28. For snow29. For my super reliable, mileage efficient car30. For my friend who visits my dogs every day, just because she cares about them31. For the incredible views from my house32. For water, but especially hot water33. For a big pile of balsam brush on my front porch—garlands in the making34. For my health, especially the dramatic improvements in my health this year35. For my trainers and their good advice36. And most especially for the elliptical trainer and what it does for my shape37. For knitting, which turns 2 dimensions into three—how cool is that?38. For the women who knit with me39. For silk long underwear40. For my garden41. And my house 42. And the 14-inch maple boards in my living room, that extend the width of the house, and that I suspect came from the maple grove out back43. For modern and not-so-modern medicine and for my healthcare providers44. For Vermont’s no-billboard law45. For being (sort of) handy around the house46. For friends who help me finish projects when I’m not quite handy enough47. For the miracle of paint and wallpaper48. For the invention of cleaning products that easily remove nose prints49. For being almost done with my Christmas shopping50. For a day off to finish51. For the gift of hunter orange bandanas for Cassie and Stone to wear for hunting season52. For friends who taste test recipes for me53. For having a garage in winter54. For the invention of automatic outdoor lights and remote garage door openers55. For the lights that come on in my bedroom at the same time winter and summer56. That although I forgot to set the timer for the pumpkin pie, I can smell when they are perfectly done (they are!)57. That the pies came out perfect58. For dogs who don’t steal food off the counter, and even for those who do59. For pecans from my Mom to go into another pie60. For maple syrup from a colleague to in there, too61. For the whole idea of whipped cream62. And for whipped cream itself63. For recipes that turned out (pear jam, pickled pears, apple butter with coriander, pears in maple syrup) and for the lessons from the ones that didn’t (awful pumpkin pickles)64. For recipe mistakes that turn out to be discoveries (apple butter with coriander was supposed to be with cardamom)65. For friends who will feed me dinner today if I bring pie, or probably even if I don’t66. For the farm fresh local organic turkey I still have in the freezer and for the fun of cooking it on another day67. For friends who regularly drag me out for pizza68. For friends who keep calling me even when I am not nearly attentive enough to them69. For the Quiet Path in Stowe, and the dogs who romp there70. For the tree that fell down this summer, that will warm us all this winter71. For the repairs to the dog pen, so that Cassie can be outside and sing, even during hunting season72. For silly jokes73. For migrating birds outside my window74. For an unending supply of murder mysteries to soothe my frazzled brain75. For the opportunities to learn a lot of different things, to do a lot of different kinds of work and to live a lot of different places in my life76. For blogging, which spurred me to write almost every day for a long time, which taught me a lot about writing77. For genetics, which gave me a happy and exploratory spirit78. For my parents, who nurtured that spirit79. For those knee injections I tried for the first time this year that relieve almost all of my knee pain80. For flu shots81. For the fun of watching Cassie watch the dog show82. For discovering items in my closet that I forgot I had…and that I love!83. That the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade still makes me cry